Landlords Increasingly Faced With Squatters, Sometimes With Deadly Consequences

Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A property manager in Phoenix says that dealing with itinerant “squatters” is one of the least pleasant parts of the real estate business.

Sometimes, you can’t control what happens, Calvin Favata with Your Holdings told The Epoch Times.

Rashaad Johnson, 29, had been renting a Your Holdings unit in South Phoenix for about two months and never had any trouble. But he was a “nice guy” who sometimes let squatters who lived in the vacant house across the street use his bathroom shower, Favata said.

Favata said the shower situation soon “got out of hand,” and the company had to stop it.

“We even put padlocks and deadbolt [locks] on the bathroom doors so they couldn’t use it,” Favata said.

On Oct. 14, one of the squatters asked Johnson to use the shower, but when he refused, the man dressed in body armor allegedly told Johnson he was going to get his gun.

The man returned and killed Johnson, as well as wounding another tenant, a 32-year-old woman who was with him.

Phoenix police charged Refugio Jimenez, 49, with first-degree murder and burglary, including misconduct involving body armor, felony drug possession, and other crimes.

Favata said that Johnson’s senseless death was apparently “over a shower.”

“Since then, I’ve been here every day. We’ve got cameras back up,” Favata told The Epoch Times as he picked up tools from the back of his company truck outside the residence.

He said squatters have always been an issue and it’s hard to get rid of them. The situation has gotten worse in the Phoenix area in recent months.

“It’s pretty much any house you see that’s vacant. I thought it would be pretty much here and there,” Favata said.

“The one [property] we just bought, I had to do all the electrical and plumbing. They took all the copper out of the house.”

‘Snowbirds’ Targeted

Scott Blake is the constable for the Hassayampa District, one of the largest districts in Arizona’s Maricopa County. The district includes Phoenix.

Blake, like Favata, said he has seen more squatters in recent months. The situation appears driven by increasing homelessness, rent costs, and the snowbird phenomenon.

In the summer, thousands of snowbirds will leave their Arizona property for milder climates and return in the winter. Some seasonal residents return to find a total stranger living in their home and refusing to leave.

“There is a group of people in society that wants to live for as little as possible. If they can live for free, they do,” Blake said.

“It’s more frequent than it ever was. I see it once a week now. A lot of times, when the squatter is confronted by law enforcement, they will leave. It’s very rare that it goes as far as me.”

Blake said that the shooting in Phoenix shows what can happen when a landlord or tenant confronts an alleged squatter.

Recent incidents in other states have put the issue in the spotlight.

Two suspected squatters were arrested in March for allegedly killing an apartment resident in New York City and stuffing her body inside a duffel bag in Pennsylvania, according to news reports.

In October, Los Angeles police said that a homeowner in Van Nuys was attacked by a suspected squatter. The homeowner managed to pin down the trespasser when officers arrived.

Another alleged squatter was arrested in May for first and second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of two men hired to clean a house, local media reported.

Blake said that getting rid of a squatter is an often complicated matter, and each state has its version of “squatters rights.”

According to turbotenant.com, squatters in Arizona can make landlords’ lives extremely difficult once they’ve settled into a property.

“Even more anxiety-inducing, if a squatter stays on a property long enough and meets specific requirements, they might eventually be able to claim it as their own through a legal process called adverse possession,” the website stated.

A Notice to Vacate is issued to squatters to leave the property within a certain period to begin the eviction process under Arizona law. The next step is to file an eviction lawsuit in court to remove squatters.

Blake said that the entire process can take up to 21 days.

“In Arizona, we are blessed with one of the fastest eviction procedures in the United States,” he said. “In some states like California, the process can take as long as a year.”

An ‘Invasion’ of Squatters

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) reports that squatters have become a significant problem in California and across the United States.

“Thousands of properties across America are being invaded by squatters, who move in and live rent-free causing major damage, or in worse cases, injury or death to property owners—and there’s really no expedient, easy legal way for property owners or the police to remove them,” according to the organization’s website.

The group said the internet and dark forums have become a clearinghouse for advice on how to break into someone else’s home and “establish a right to be there.”

Blake said that, in some cases, a squatter may produce a fake lease to show police, who then treat squatting as a civil matter.

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